Stoke to assess new signing Ndiaye before Bournemouth trip

(Reuters) - Stoke City manager Paul Lambert will assess new signing Badou Ndiaye on Friday before deciding whether to hand the midfielder his Premier League debut in Saturday’s game at Bournemouth.

Stoke signed Ndiaye from Galatasaray for 16 million euros (£14 million) on a four-and-a-half-year deal on Wednesday but the 27-year-old Senegal international missed his first training session with the club.

”He had one or two little things to tidy up today so he wasn’t with the group,“ Lambert told reporters on Thursday. ”But he is in the building tomorrow and he will train with us for the first time, so we will have a close look at him then.

“He says he is ready to go, he wants to play matches and is clearly in good shape, but I will judge everything tomorrow.”

Ndiaye was Stoke’s third signing in the January transfer window. He joined alongside defenders Moritz Bauer from Rubin Kazan and Kostas Stafylidis who is on loan from FC Augsburg.

The hard-working Ndiaye is expected to add aggression to Stoke’s midfield as they try to move further clear of the relegation zone.

“He is certainly going to improve the side moving forward because he is a very talented boy, who is hugely important for his country and has been equally as important for Galatasaray this season,” Lambert added.

Stoke are 16th in the table with 24 points, one point away from the drop zone while Bournemouth are 10th.